“My past is my past and a lot of The Glass Passenger is about that,” says Jack’s Mannequin frontman Andrew McMahon, “but it’s also about trying to write myself out of it. This is a record about trying to get out from underneath something. I want people to receive the music for what it is and not have to contextualize it against my own personal battle.” These are brave words from a man who created this record after making a full recovery from leukemia.
McMahon was a member of the pop-rock quintet Something Corporate before the band took a break in the summer of 2004. After the breakup, McMahon began to reconnect with old friends and write confessional songs and began recording under the pseudonym Jack’s Mannequin. After finishing up the last song for that album, he was diagnosed with leukemia at age 22. Whilst he was dancing with death, the album was released and well received by fans and critics alike.
The newest edition to his repertoire, The Glass Passenger, released on Sept. 30, is an uplifting album of recovery. Says McMahon, “The Glass Passenger is not about recovering from cancer. It’s just about recovering. I was trying to use the music to sort through and reconcile with the adversity of my past.” Using music as a creative outlet for emotion, this album speaks to the struggles of life and the ability to continue to fight for a better tomorrow.
Some albums are ready for the road – they can be taken on long road trips, and sung out loud while driving down the highway – Jack’s Mannequin achieved this accessibility and drivability. With its feel-good jams, and slow stretches of harmony, it brings together the pain and triumph of revitalization.
The songwriting speaks to the uncertain balanced by the certain. With tenderness and raw sentiment, Jack’s Mannequin blends the sounds of hope and despair into an album of understanding and endurance. To quote McMahon, “I want to be able to relate to people when I write songs. Part of what’s driven me to make music is this idea of connection; taking my experiences and writing about them honestly, but in such a way that someone in a completely different situation can still relate to them. I wanted to make a record that wasn’t exactly about what I had seen, but what I had felt along the way.”
This see-through traveler offers hope and truth to those it meets along the way. Jack’s Mannequin begins a North American tour on Oct. 14. Hammers and Strings: An Evening with Jack’s Mannequin and the Glass Passenger will be in Chicago on Nov. 9 at The Bottom Lounge with special guests Fun and Treaty of Paris.